The Young G.O.D.z

Distinctive NC Trio Makes Music with a Purpose


By Mia Barnett

The Young G.O.D.Z is a phenomenal power group that grew up together in the same neighborhood in Charlotte, NC. They initially became a group for their annual high school talent show in 2001, in the 2002 talent show, Ya-Hine$$, Young Flamez, and Jon 'JB' Brown won the competition. Young G.O.D.Z consider themselves to be brothers as they have matriculated from high school to college together.

It was momentous for the group when they all finally arrived at North Carolina Central University. While students at NC Central SU, this group officially named themselves the Young G.O.D.Z, to represent their roots and who they are. G is the 7th letter of the alphabet, O represents the number 0 and D represents the 4th letter of alphabet, all of these numbers make up the area code 704 from where the Young G.O.D.Z were established. “The acronym is important because it keeps us grounded and embodies what we stand for ---the Young Gods of Rap & Hip Hop,” says Brown. The Young G.O.D.Z are not currently seeking to get rich or make money off of their music, their focus is to simply get their music heard, and their efforts have made them quite the popular group across the state of North Carolina.

This hip-hop trio once recorded a Valentine’s Day CD dedicated to ladies from various walks of life, burned the V-Day album onto hundreds of CDs in a dorm room, and distributed the CDs to every female dorm room on campus. “There were three additions to the Valentine’s Day CD which included interludes as well…it felt good to actually hear our music being played across campus,” Brown expresses. Flame recalls the most memorable moments of their music career to be a time when they opened for the famous rapper, Mike Jones, in 2004 as the Crunk Clique and the audience knew all of the words to their songs as they performed.